Russia to Start Fifth-Generation Fighter Tests in 2010

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov has said that the county's fifth-generation fighter tests will begin in 2010, following which, the fighters will enter air force service in 2015.

Sukhoi's PAK FA and its current prototype T-50, designed to compete with the US F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightening II, is one of the known fifth-generation projects of Russia.

Equipped with next-generation air-to-air, air-to-surface, air-to-ship missiles and two 30-mm cannons, the PAK FA also has advanced avionics, stealth capability, a ferry range of up to 5,500km and an endurance of 3.3 hours.

Due to problems in the engine the first test flight of the T-50 fighter aircraft, which has been under development since 1990, has been repeatedly postponed since the beginning of 2007.